Moonwalk is basically a recollection of Michael Jackson’s life, in his own words, through 1988. He discusses his music, family, friends, career, views, relationships, influences, and much more.

Obviously, there is a tremendous amount of discussion about his music and its history. For instance, he says that he did “This Place Hotel” because he had a fascination with revenge and couldn’t really understand why people would want revenge. “The Lady in My Life” was the song where Quincy Jones asked him to “beg”. “Blues Away”, which he didn’t sing anymore by this time, was about a deep depression even though the song has a light feel to it.

He says that he is surprised when people think that all of an artist’s work comes from personal experience or their own lifestyle because many times nothing is farther from the truth. It is the artist’s job to create a mood or feeling using imagination, which is the most useful tool an artist has.

Michael Jackson was obviously a perfectionist who was extremely professional and serious when it came to his work. He recalls that during the making of The Wiz someone was joking around while he was filming a scene. They were trying to make him laugh and he was very upset and hurt by that. He couldn’t understand why someone would want to act that way knowing that it could mess up the scene.

He talks about all of the people who influenced him from Sammy Davis Jr. to Jackie Wilson to Fred Astaire. He reveals some of the pranks played by he and his brothers, what it was like for a child to play in seedy night clubs, why Janet was like his twin, and what it was like to drop his father as his manager. He recalls what happened after the famous Pepsi commercial where he received 3rd degree burns and how it was his childhood dream to ride in an ambulance with the sirens going. He also says that he dreamed of having a family with 13 kids.

He describes himself as “one of the loneliest people in the world.” He touches on his relationships saying that girls want to “figure out what makes me tick.” They want to either save him or be lonely with him and he wouldn’t wish that on anyone. He discusses the fact that he had a hard time looking them, and the public, in the eye due to his shy nature. He used sunglasses to hide his eyes and, in some tiny way, to have some sense of privacy that was almost impossible to come by without barricading himself inside a room. A doctor gave him a surgical mask once after having his wisdom teeth taken out. He recalls that he liked the feeling of wearing it out in public because, like the sunglasses, it gave him a sense of privacy. Some of the more chilling moments in the book were his thoughts on celebrities, like Elvis for instance, who have tragically fallen victim to their lifestyle. He says that he didn’t think he would end up like that and he didn’t want to.

I found Moonwalk to be smart, sensitive and extremely insightful. He seemed like, to use his own words, “a young person with an old soul” who felt an overwhelming sense of responsibility not only to his family and friends who depended on him but also to his fans. I personally enjoyed the book a great deal. I feel like it gave me a better understanding of Michael Jackson beyond the music. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan.